The Director of Public Prosecution, Yvonne Attakora Obuobisa, has revealed that criminals are sometimes set free by Ghana’s courts because they falsify records of proceedings and use them as evidence to file appeals.

These records, she revealed are signed by court officials, making them appear legitimate.

She made this revelation during a meeting between officials of the Attorney General’s office and the Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah.

The Chief Justice and Senior Justices of the Supreme Court including Jones Dotse, Paul Baffoe Bonnie, and Marful Sau had raised concerns about the slow pace of cases sometimes attributable to how state prosecutors are always asking for adjournments.

“The public is not happy. For criminal cases to last beyond one year is completely unacceptable”, Justice Dotse said.

He made reference to the case of Major Maxwell Adam Mahama who was lynched by a mob in the Central Region as one which has dragged.

He advised the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame to engage the press regularly and explain the processes to ensure that the courts don’t come under attack for a situation that may not necessarily be its fault.

Justice Marful-Sau also made reference to the murder of Abuakwa North MP J.B Danquah Adu which also remains pending in the courts.

Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame told the justices that the delay is sometimes as a result of public officials not cooperating with his office.

On her part, Madam Yvonne Attakora Obuobisa said falsification of court records is another challenge affecting justice administration.

“We have a number of appeals where we have realized that you have certified true copies, they have been certified but the records are false.

"In a particular case, there is an armed robber who on three different occasions came with different records”, she explained.

She said such criminals move to higher courts in different regions and file appeals with the false records which convince the courts that they do not deserve their conviction.

Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah described the revelation as troubling.

He called for details to be provided to his office to enable a probe and subsequent imposition of sanctions against such officials.